AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9851 - State to overhaul PDS: CM

In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.

On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.

In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.

In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.

In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.

"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi

Ram Krishnaswamy

Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

9851 - State to overhaul PDS: CM - Arunachal Times

State to overhaul PDS: CM

April 17, 2016

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ITANAGAR, Apr 16: Chief Minister, Kalikho Pul is planning to completely overhaul the PDS in the state.

In a meeting with the officers of the Food & Civil Supply Department on Friday evening for implementation of National Food Security Act 2013 and distribution of food grains to the NFSA beneficiaries, Chief Minister said Arunachal Pradesh Civil Supplies Transport Corporation (APCSTC) will be created to carry out the works of transportation and wholesale nominee for the entire state. He asked the department to expedite the creation of APCSTC at the earliest.
The state govt has also reviewed the terms and conditions for the appointment of PDS Carriage Contractor and decided to discontinue the separate Wholesale Nominee. By doing this, govt eliminates the provision for Wholesale Nominee Commission system. From this year only, the Carriage Contractors shall be appointed and drawal, storage and distribution across the district shall be part of the duties and responsibilities of the carriage contractor.
It was decided to minimize allocation of PDS rice to rice producing districts and to add more to the districts that totally depends on supply of PDS Rice. Tawang, West Kameng, Kurung Kumey, Upper Subansiri, Dibang Valley, Anjaw, Longding and Tirap are PDS dependent districts.
It was also decided to re-introduce air-lifting of Essential Ration Commodities (ERCs) to the CPO Centres in the remote outpost in order to do away with the head load system. In this regard, CM directed the departmental authorities to send a proposal for airlifting of foodgrains to air-fed locations for further submission to Govt of India for placement of Cargo helicopter for the purpose.
The govt further decided to install Point of Sale (PoS) devices starting with the FPS of the Capital Complex and District Headquarters. To meet up the procurement, installation and operation of Point of Sales devices an estimated proposal of Rs 2.00 crore has been made for onward submission to DONER Ministry. It was decided that the remaining FPSs in districts shall also be covered in phase wise manner.
As mandated by the Govt of India, AADHAAR seeding of the NFSA beneficiary database will be done as it is being monitored on weekly basis by PMO Pragati meeting.
The govt further decided to establish FCI depots in all the district headquarters, to allocate Food Security Allowance to all the Deputy Commissioners well in advance and to give relaxation of time from one month to three months (quarterly) for payment of Food Security Allowances.
To facilitate the poor beneficiaries, govt decided to introduce DBTL for direct transfer of subsidy amount of foodgrains to the bank account of the beneficiary in the Capital Complex and urban pockets where online network connectivity and banking facilities are available after ensuring cleanliness of beneficiary data through Aadhaar and Bank Account seeding.
He asked the department to put up the proposal for creation of 9 posts of District Food & Civil Supply Officers for Kra-Daadi, Upper Siang, Siang, Lower Siang, Dibang Valley, Kurung Kumey, Anjaw, Namsai and Itanagar Capital Complex to meet up the shortage of officers in the department.
There are no sanctioned posts of DF&CSO in these districts.
It was also decided to merge the Directorate of Supply & Transport with the Directorate of Food & Civil Supplies. This has been decided to meet up the man power requirement for successful implementation of NFSA. (PRO, CMO)